Silent Night, languages and community on Christmas Day

Dear readers and followers,

I had no plans to publish anything today, my Christmas post has been published yesterday, and that was Knotty’s Christmas present for you all. Despite all that, here I am again today, to share a very touching moment that I was lucky enough to witness on this Christmas day.

I am spending Christmas with friends, and we went to church near my friend’s house. The whole function was nothing different from any other one, but the closing moment was a celebration of the Christmas spirit through languages. The priest has sang Silent Night also interpreting it in BSL. Here I leave you a video from YouTube of a version that I just found and that will give you shivers for its beauty:

It is a wonderful example, and has been a touching moment of languages crossing barriers and bringing people together. Exactly like it happened in 1914, as Queen Elizabeth II reminded us today in her Christmas speech:

“On that chilly Christmas Eve in 1914, many of the German forces sang Silent night, its haunting melody inching across the line. That carol is still much loved today, a legacy of the Christmas truce, and a reminder to us all that even in the unlikeliest of places, hope can be found.”